The re start to the NBA has been exciting with teams battling for a spot in the Playoffs. With so many evenly matched teams, it’s difficult to predict a standing, but the basketball is always fun to watch. Let’s hop into it. The Sacremento Kings played the Charolette Hornets on Monday night, and this game was intense. While the Kings held the lead for most of the game, Lamelo Ball started off the fourth quarter scoring 8 points in the 15 point come back for the Hornets. With Gordon Hayward and Terry Rozier having around 25 points each, the Hornets were able to win the game 122-116. The Milwaukee Bucks have been having a lot of success since the All-Star break. Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks continued their fantastic play against the Washington Wizards. The Wizards have been playing really well after struggling at the beginning of the season, and although Bradley Beal dropped 37 points, Giannis had a triple double with 31 points, 15 rebounds, and 10 assists to help the Bucks win, 133-122 The Detroit Pistons, who have been playing bad all season, have only started to play worse after they bought out Blake Griffin. They matched up against a shorthanded San Antonio Spurs, who were missing DeMar DeRozan, and still lost to the Spurs, 109-99. The Brooklyn Nets, who are still missing Kevin Durant, played the New York Knicks on Monday night. This game was a close one, with 4 out of the 5 starters for New York having nearly 20 points each. Julius Randle had 33 points and 12 rebounds, but James Harden had a triple double with 21 points, 14 rebounds, and 15 assists. That as well as a controversial travel call made in the last moments of the game, led the Knicks to a hard loss, 117-112. The Knicks went on to play the Philadelphia 76er’s on Tuesday night and this game was very much like the one against the Nets. It was a tight game that went down to the wire with 4 out of the 5 Knicks starters in double digit scoring. Even though the 76er’s were missing Joel Embiid, Tobias Harris had a big game dropping 30 points, to help Philly win, 99-96. Luka Donćic also had a triple double on Monday night. He cashed in 25 points, 10 rebounds, and 16 assists against the Los Angeles Clippers, but he didn’t seem to be getting much help from his Dallas Mavericks teammates. Meanwhile 7 of the Clips players scored double digits, leading to a decisive win, 109-99. Caris LeVert made his debut for the Indiana Pacers on Monday as they played the Denver Nuggets. While he put up 17 points on 54% shooting, the Nuggets, who have been on a roll, out rebounded and out scored the Pacers to take the W 121-106. The Phoenix Suns have been playing an extremely high level of basketball this season. With the addition of Chris Paul the Suns have been unstoppable and that continued as they faced the Memphis Grizzlies. The Grizzlies got blown out plain and simple as the Suns won easily, 122-99. The Golden State Warriors have been struggling this season without Klay Thomson. As they faced a shorthanded Los Angeles Lakers who were missing Marc Gasol and Anthony Davis, we weren’t sure who would come out on top. But LeBron James showed up with a triple double with 22 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 assists to help blow out the Warriors, 128-97. The Lakers played the next night as well, against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Both Anthony Edwards and Karl Anthony Towns had 29 points each, but again LeBron James had a triple double with 25 points, 12 rebounds, and 12 assists, along with Montrezl Harrell having 25 points of his own to help the Lakers win, 137-121. The Utah Jazz, who are the best team in league, faced the Boston Celtics on Tuesday. Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown scored around 28 points each, but the Jazz showed their depth with 6 of their players in double digit scoring, leading to the narrow win, 117-109. The Cleveland Cavaliers have been struggling the whole season and they’re only getting worse. They went up against the Miami Heat and lost as all of the starters for the Heat had double digit scoring, Jimmy Butler had 28 points and 12 rebounds to seal the game, 113-98. The Chicago Bulls played the Oklahoma City Thunder, and OKC really struggled this game. With Zach LaVine dropping 40 points, the Bulls blew out the Thunder, 123-102. The Atlanta Hawks, who have been struggling for a win, finally got one against the shorthanded Houston Rockets. Although Victor Oladipo scored 34 points, the absence of John Wall was noticeable as the Hawks out assisted the Rockets and won the game, 119-107. The New Orleans Pelicans have been finding there identity this season, and in their Tuesday night matchup against the Portland Trail Blazers, they fought hard. C.J McCollum finally returned after missing a few months due to injury and scored 10 points on the night. Brandon Ingram had 30 points and Zion Williamson had 28 points, but this combined was not enough to stop Damion Lillard from dropping 50 points on the night, and coming alive late in the fourth quarter to give the Blazers the lead, and beat the Pelicans, 125-124. This has been the Mid-Week Report for Briefly In Depth. Check back in Saturday for the Weeks Conclusion.
Yaakov Pliner
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